INTERIM HR PROJECTS MANAGER
FULL-TIME OR PART-TIME (24-40 HOURS), TEMPORARY (6-9 MONTHS)
THE SUTTON TRUST
The Sutton Trust is the UK’s leading social mobility charity. We believe every young person should have a fair chance in life, regardless of their family’s income, the school they go to or where they grow up. But today in Britain, the opportunity to succeed is heavily shaped by socio-economic background. Our mission is to change this. Our programmes empower young people to access life-changing opportunities, and our research influences national change to deliver a fairer future.
Each year, together with our university and employer partners, we support over 14,000 young people to reach their potential through our university, apprenticeship and career access programmes. And our support doesn’t stop there. We engage our thriving alumni community to help them to succeed in their professions and to act as advocates for social mobility.
Our rigorous and extensive research shines a light on barriers to opportunity from the early years to the workplace, and we strive to influence national policy change with evidence-based solutions to tackle educational and workplace inequality. Using insights from our programmes and research, we also test and scale new ideas in education and employment practice.
As an independent charity, our work is entirely reliant on the generous support of our community of donors. The need to support our work to tackle Britain’s low social mobility has never been greater.
THE ROLE
The Trust has grown significantly over the past five years, from a team of 30 staff in 2020 to almost 60 in early 2026. Our organisational strategy, which takes us to 2030, predicts further growth across all our activities, that will allow us to increase and improve the support we provide for young people, and further raise the profile of social mobility in the UK. As part of this, we are currently in the early development stages for the Trust’s first ever People Strategy.
We are seeking an organised and proactive Interim HR Projects Manager to manage a selection of discrete HR projects that will enable us to develop and improve how we support our staff team and foster a positive and productive workplace culture.
THE TEAM
The Interim HR Projects Manager will join a small and dynamic team that covers Finance, Human Resources, IT and Business Operations. The Finance & Operations team play a critical role by running the day-to-day operations and providing the infrastructure that enables the continued delivery of the Trust’s mission and objectives. The role will report to the Senior Operations Manager and will work closely with the HR Officer.
MAIN DUTIES
FOR THE ROLE:
- Undertaking specific projects to enhance the Trust’s HR support, including for example, reviewing training and skills development for line managers and scoping frameworks and considerations for organisational values development.
- Supporting and/or covering other areas of HR activity as required, for example recruitment
- Keeping up to date with legislation, policies and procedures relevant to the role and the Trust’s work
- Other duties as necessary from time to time
PERSON SPECIFICATION
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Experience working either in a generalist HR role or across more than one stage of the employee lifecycle
- Knowledge and understanding of current UK employment law and HR compliance requirements
- Experience of managing HR projects, process improvements, and/or change initiatives
- Strong interpersonal skills with a proven ability to handle sensitive matters with tact and diplomacy
- Excellent communication skills – both written and verbal, with the ability to build and maintain solid cross-functional working relationships
- Strong organisational and problem-solving skills with the ability to multi-task
- Experience of or interest in working in the education or not-for-profit sector (desirable)
COMPETENCIES:
- Sympathetic to the aims of the Trust and its mission to address educational disadvantage
- High attention to detail
- A flexible and adaptable approach to accommodate the varying aspects of the role, able to prioritise tasks and work to deadlines
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and independently with a high degree of initiative
- Discretion, professionalism and integrity in handling confidential, sensitive, and personal information
- A commitment to high professional and personal standards and continuous improvement
OTHER:
- Eligible to work in the UK**
TERMS OF APPOINTMENT
- Salary: £42,025 - £48,000 per annum
- Contract: Full-time or part-time (24-40 hours), temporary (6-9 months)
- Working location: Our home working policy gives staff the option to work from home for up to 60% of the time, with approval from their line manager.
- Office location: The Sutton Trust, 9th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.
- Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and may also be required to attend events / meetings outside of their normal working hours during weekday evenings and occasionally at weekends
- DBS check may be required
**Please note that we are unfortunately not a licensed visa sponsor.